Four decades on, Steve Edge still describes leading St George to their 1977 premiership as a dream come true.
A St George junior, still only 25-years-old himself, Edge had the honour of captaining the side that would be remembered as Bath’s Babes.
The Southern Sydney Committee of the Men of League will host a luncheon on September 8 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of that St George Dragons’ 1977 premiership-winning team.
Captain Edge and a host of players including Ted Goodwin, Craig Young and Rod Reddy will attend the event at St George Leagues Club.
As well as being remembered as the second-last premiership St George won as a standalone club, the 1977 decider is rememberd as the first to go to a replay.
St George took on minor premiers Parramatta at the Sydney Cricket Ground having beaten them two weeks earlier in the semi-final 10-5. An experienced Eels side saw the likes of Ray Price, Geoff Gerard and captain Ray Higgs take on the young Dragons who drew on the experience of their coach, Harry Bath.
The grand final finished 9-all in front of more than 65,000 fans at the SCG, with St George downing the Eels 22-0 in the replay a week later.
“We were a very young, very enthusiastic side,” Edge told the Leader.
“We flew under the radar a little bit because we were so young. We came up against Parramatta who had quite a number of internationals. Great players. I just think with our enthusiasm we caught them a bit by surprise. A lot of our players were underrated in terms of their ability and never got the wraps they deserved.”
For Edge, leading the Dragons to a premiership was the realisation of a boyhood dream.
That I got to play first grade and captain the club to a premiership is something I’ll treasure forever.
- Steve Edge
“You’d think about playing for the Dragons, one game in third grade or something would have meant everything. To think I got to play first grade and given the honour to captain the club to a premiership is something I’ll treasure forever,” he said.
“I got to play with two of my all-time heroes in Billy Smith and Graeme Langlands. To be able to play at the SCG once was a dream.
“Every premiership is a pretty good thing to remember. There are so many guys that don’t actually get to play in one. To win one is just wonderful.”
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